Chemmy Alcott has announced her retirement from competitive skiing on a video on her website. Photograph: chemmyalcott.com

Chemmy Alcott has retired, citing continued wear and tear on her body. Britain's No1 female skier will step down after the British Alpine Championships in Méribel from 30 March to 7 April.

The 31-year-old finished 19th in the downhill at the Winter Olympics in Sochi after fighting her way back to fitness following a broken leg in August. In a video on her website she said that in order to prolong her love of the sport, she would have to discontinue racing.

"I am not going to retire – by definition to retire means to withdraw from one's profession – and I'm a skier and I will always be a skier," she said. "However it's with a really heavy but happy and proud heart that I relinquish my role as a ski racer.

"When you talk to past athletes and you ask them how they knew it was time to leave their sport, most of them say that if you're honest with yourself you just know when the right time is. And I know it's my time, both physically and mentally and I also believe that fate stepped in a little bit too." She said that Sochi was "my proudest performance and greatest achievement".

She added: "This season after breaking my leg in August I knew it had to all be about the Olympics. I was no longer in a position to race in enough World Cups to improve my world ranking so I literally put all my eggs in one basket to do the Olympic thing. In Sochi I threw myself down that mountain with a confidence I had managed to create from absolutely nothing."

Alcott bows out after finishing 19th in the downhill at Sochi. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

She hopes to use her experience to coach young skiers. "Now I will give my body time to heal, time to rest. It's ironic that bowing out from being a ski racer is the only way I can continue to be able to ski for the rest of my life and I'm not prepared to abandon my love of that sport."